Created more than a century before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 C.E., the wall paintings provide rare insights into secret rituals conducted in the Roman city

Archaeologists in Pompeii have uncovered rare, nearly life-sized frescoes that offer fresh insight into religious practices in the ancient city before it was destroyed by Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, the site said on Wednesday.

A century before the ancient city’s destruction, artists adorned the walls of a Pompeii banquet hall with a procession of Dionysian revelers. Brightly colored and nearly life-sized, the newly identified fresco figures dance,

The House of Thiasus got its name from the “thiasos,” or sacred procession, of Dionysus. The fresco matches the Second Style of Pompeian wall painting, which was prevalent between the 40s and 30s BC. This means the painting had already existed for over a century when the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD buried it under ash and pumice.

In the shadow of Mt Vesuvius, Pompeii's buried wonders are still emerging. A newly found fresco offers a tantalising glimpse into the vibrant life of the past.

More than a century after the discovery of the famous Villa of the Mysteries, a new large-scale pictorial work has emerged from the excavations at the archaeological site of Pompeii, shedding light on the enigmatic Dionysian rituals of the classical world.

Another new discovery in the ruins of Pompeii has shed light on the wilder side of the ancient Romans. An extremely rare frieze known as a “megalography,” or painting with life-sized figures, has been unearthed in an area where ongoing excavations have produced some of the ancient site’s most important finds.

A major new fresco has been unearthed in Pompeii depicting the procession of the god of wine Dionysus, with hunters, dancers and beautifully dressed women, site authorities announced Tuesday.